Responsibilities of Everyday Life
by fatalxdesiresx
Summary: Stressed with responsibilities and paperwork, Ryan is persuaded by Nikita - who also offers to be his teacher - to try yoga as a way to relax and unwind.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **RACHEL, I'M SORRY THIS FIRST PART IS SO SHORT? It was originally like 800 words but I managed to make it a bit longer. I promise the second part will be a bit longer. I'll try and get it posted by your birthday. I know some of what I want to write, just not all. I have a semi-clear picture, lol. But I hope you like this and I hope it's not too ooc? This is my first time writing these two and it feels weird but good.

Anyway, sorry everyone for this random fic? I know a lot of you follow me for Owkita and Salex. I used to ship Nikita/Ryan, actually, back in S1. The truth is, I'll literally ship Nikita with anyone but Michael, but at the end of the day Nikita/Owen are my otp. However, this fic is for a friend; her birthday is coming up and I wanted her to have as much of an abundance of Nikita and Ryan as possible since they are her otp of otps on the show.

Sooo, happy early birthday, Rachel. Hope you like this (((:

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The stress reached all the way up to the back of his neck, a knotted ball resting there like an unwelcome burden for an invariable amount of time. Each day the ball of stress grew and grew, stiffening his neck and his back – to the point it was getting hard for Ryan to focus. He was even becoming a bit temperamental with people. Birkhoff had not so subtly pointed that out, with his usual flare of sarcasm. The others had become wary around him, or avoiding him entirely. Except Nikita. She was the only one calling him out on his behavior. Well, her and Birkhoff – with that sarcasm.

Pacing his office, Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, cracking it from side to side. He knew it was a bad habit and was most likely only exacerbating even more neck problems by doing that, but it made his neck feel so much better. And he liked that cracking sound – he even cracked his fingers from time to time, as well as other body parts. Glancing at the paperwork on his desk, he heaved a sigh and decided to pace a few more laps around his office, procrastinate a while longer. He was starting to hate that paperwork. Maybe he should take Nikita's advice and start to use the computer and not remain stuck in the old age of pen and paper and files. But it wasn't just the paperwork - it was _this _place. Running it was starting to take its toll on him. It wasn't what he had imagined it would be.

He cracked his neck again, closing his eyes and sighing. He stopped, hand resting on the back of his neck as he stood in front of his desk, the edge of it digging into his thigh. He dug his fingertips into the base of his spine, massaging it in circles. _"That's a bad habit, you know," _said a familiar voice behind him. _"Cracking your neck like that. I wouldn't recommend it."_

"_Oh?" _Ryan asked. Dropping his hand by his side, he turned around to see Nikita watching him. She had been watching him for several minutes, worried about his level of stress these past few weeks and how little sleep he was getting. Her arms crossed over her chest, she leaned her hip against the door and studied him, the stubble along his jawline darker than it had been the last time she'd seen him. She smiled once he fully turned toward her. Smiling back at her, a wave of ease washed over him. Her smile was infectious, a sight difficult not to mimic. _"What would you recommend then, to help relieve my neck pain and stress?" _He held out his hands, encouraging her to share any ideas she had that would help him relax, get through all the paperwork he had.

Eyes shining at this invitation, she glanced behind her before stepping into his office. _"Well, there are a lot of things you could do," _she began. She strode toward him, heels clicking on the floor. _"Cut bad habits, like neck cracking, for example." _She slapped him on the arm, arching a brow at him. _"Other remedies for neck pain include placing a hot towel around your neck or practicing neck exercises – or even getting a massage. As for stress relief, hmm," _she paused, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Ryan leaned against the edge of his desk, watching her with amused curiosity, waiting to see what she'd come up with. _"Meditation?" _she suggested.

"_You mean yoga?" _Ryan asked. With raised eyebrows, Nikita watched him with an intense intrigue, awaiting his reaction to her proposal. _"I don't know, I've never done it before," _he said. _"I don't think I'd be very good at it. My balance is terrible. And I'm not all that flexible, really." _

"_It's fine," _Nikita replied. _"I'll be your teacher." _If there was anything she knew better than combat, it was yoga. It was second nature to her almost. She felt confident enough to do this. And she was willing to do anything to help Ryan relax and relieve any stress he had.

She watched him with such a fierce intensity that he found himself lost in her face, her whiskey eyes, his own eyes dropping down to watch as her lips parted and the corners curved upward into a smile. He took a deep breath and looked away, pushing himself away from his desk. _"I'm not sure," _he finally said, feeling himself flush as he turned away from her. Being so alone with her, he'd be too tempted. He had prided himself on being respectful all this time and he didn't want to ruin things with her.

"_Oh, come on, Fletch," _Nikita prodded. _"It'll be fun, just the two of us. It's been so long since it's been just us." _She smiled wistfully at him, rather looking forward to the idea of the two of them spending the afternoon together. If he agreed, that is.

Ryan turned back to face Nikita, hesitating as he looked at her. He glanced down, clearing his throat. When he looked up and caught sight of that wistful smile of hers, he knew he was lost. That smile of hers, it was infectious and it could bring any man to his knees. Shaking his head at her, he smiled and said, _"Okay. I'll be your guinea pig for an afternoon."_

Nikita chuckled, standing up and going over to Fletcher. Taking his hands in hers, she held them up between them and looked up at him, smiling. _"You're going to make an excellent guinea pig, my friend," _she teased.

Ryan tilted his head to the side, giving her a wry smile. _"You think you're so funny," _he said, and felt her squeeze his hands. He brushed his thumbs across her knuckles, still smiling wryly at her.

"_I'm hilarious, hasn't anyone told you?" _And with that, she reached reached up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He leaned into her touch, a tender smile lighting both their features. She let go of his hands as she pulled away, taking a few steps back as she made to leave his office. _"See you tomorrow afternoon," _she said, pointing a finger at him to emphasize the time and date.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Ok, so here's the final part of the yoga chapter, Rachelllll! It's so blegh, I'm so so sorry. I kinda just blanked, I don't know what happened. I used to do yoga - I did it for years so I was, like, all psyched to write about it for these two after discussing this idea for them and then just? Idk. Anyway. I am kinda glad that this chapter turned out longer than the other one. I do hope you like this and enjoy it. I wanted to work in a kiss for you, but it didn't really feel right. I didn't want it to feel forced. However, there is a mushy romantic moment or two between them, so (((:

Happy birthday, love ((:

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With her eyes closed and all her attention narrowed on her breathing, Ryan seized the opportunity to admire Nikita sitting right across from him. He tried to remember the last time they had been alone like this – actually and completely alone. He honestly couldn't remember; someone from the team always seemed to be with them – Michael, Alex or Birkhoff. One of them was always hovering not a foot or two away. But not this time. They were outside of Division for once, which was genuinely helping him relax a bit, and the others were off doing their own activities. Breathing fresh, uncorrupted air into his lungs made a remarkable difference in the way he felt. And also, finally being alone with _her. _He never tried to be selfish, but today he couldn't help but to feel just a hint of that sin.

His eyes dropped down to Nikita's hands, the backs of them resting on her knees, the tip of her thumb pressed against the tip of her index finger. With her legs crossed, their knees were almost touching. If he moved it just a little bit it just might brush against her own knee. He contemplated moving, but he remained still and pretended to be deep in meditation just like she was. He lifted his gaze back up to her face, his steel eyes settling on her lips and fondly thought back to the last time their lips had touched. And he wondered for a fleeting moment if that'd truly be the last time they'd ever kiss.

Letting out an impatient sigh, Ryan glanced around the studio they had found to use for an hour. It was a small space used for yoga classes, perfectly suited for today, he supposed, the blinds drawn down and candles lit here and there to cast a golden dusk around the room. Hopefully it wouldn't go to waste – he was feeling like it was going to waste. Meditating was harder than he had thought it was going to be; he found it hard to clear his mind of all his thoughts. He kept thinking back to Division, which in turn made him think about all the people he bossed around every day. How many people actually liked him? He was sure more people preferred Nikita. As he continued to contaminate his mind with thoughts, he led himself to thinking about his office, which in turn led him to think about all the paperwork piled on top of his desk. It was a never-ending stream of information inside his head, like a computer running all night.

"_Stop sighing," _Nikita reproached, when he was about to heave another sigh. He slowly let out a breathe, pretending like he was meditating. _"Better," _she said, a hint of skepticism in her voice.

"_Can we move onto something else, please?" _Ryan asked. _"Meditating is only stressing me out more, if that's possible." _He kept thinking of more and more things he had to do, at the office _and _at home.

Guilty of being the one to sigh this time, Nikita nodded and pushed herself off the floor using the strength of her legs. She gestured for Ryan to follow her lead. _"We'll try some stretches and sequences," _she began. _"Get your mind off work by loosening and working your body." _She paused, contemplating something for a moment before going on. _"How's your balance?" _she asked.

He shrugged, thinking it satisfactory, but when it came to practicing yoga poses – it wasn't probably ideal. _"I wouldn't suggest making me do anything that involves lifting my entire body off the floor with just the strength of my hands or arms, if that's what you're asking, Hercules."_

Nikita suppressed a smirk and nodded. _"Why don't I show you what routine I have planned out and you tell me if you think you can do it with me. Okay?" _After Ryan nodded, Nikita began by explaining the Sun Salutation routine: to perform the sequence, start in Tadasana, with your hands together at your heart. Inhale and lift your arms overhead to Urdhva Hastasana, then exhale while lowering the arms down and fold your torso into Uttanasana. Then inhale, arch your torso into a slight backbend with the fingertips or palms pressed to the floor, and exhale while bringing your left foot back into a lunge. _"Lower yourself into a push-up," _she showed him, lowering her tiny body to the ground. Ryan watched her, arms crossed as he observed her. His eyes traveled over her body as he studied her movements, gaze lingering on her ass for a moment before he quickly tore it away and turned around and mentally chastised himself. _"Exhale, and lift from the hips and push back up," _he heard her continue, and when he turned back to face her her ass was sticking up in the air. He opened his mouth and then immediately closed it, turning away again, closing his eyes. _"You got all that so far?"_

"_Mm, yeah," _Ryan replied, he chanced a glance at her, thankful she wasn't looking at him. He remained with his back to her, but at an angle so that he could still watch her as she continued demonstrating the Sun Salutation routine for him.

"_Now inhale and step the right foot forward," _she went on. Swing the right leg forward to Uttanasana on an exhalation, then lift your torso and reach your arms overhead on an inhalation to Urdhva Hastasana. Finally, lower your arms on an exhalation and return to your starting point, Tadasana. _"Think you can do that?" _she asked, arching an eyebrow at him. _"And think you can do five rounds of that, repeating the process on each side of the body?"_

Ryan turned to looked at her with incredulity and a moment later he burst out laughing, a hearty laugh Nikita hadn't ever heard before. _"We'll never know," _he finally replied, when the laughter had subsided.

"_Ryan, you swore to me you'd try this," _she reminded him, poking him in the chest. He frowned at her, swiping at her hand.

He shot her a look, not appreciating being poked in the chest. But he _had _promised her, and he didn't like not following through on promises. _"All right, all right," _he finally said. He held his hands up in surrender, gesturing for her to back off as he went to stand at the head of the yoga mat.

He took a deep breath as Nikita joined him at the foot of her own yoga mat, and together they went through the Sun Salutation sequence. It started off relatively easy, Nikita only admonishing him now and then to remember to breathe in and out; breaking out of her sequences to adjust his poses, particularly when it came to lengthening his spine for the forward bend. He couldn't just bend forward normally, apparently, which caused them to get into a heated argument.

"_It's not like we're in an actual class," _he complained, voice rising slightly. _"You can just turn your head the other way and let me do this my way, and you can do this your way. It's not like how I bend forward makes a difference?" _Ryan shook his head back and forth in a questioning manner and then resumed the sequence, leaving Nikita frustrated.

As he soon found out, however, the Sun Salutation became much more challenging with each round. As Ryan was holding himself up in the downward facing dog position during the third sequence, his arms began to feel weak and he felt the sweat dripping down his face. He curled his fingers into the yoga mat and dug his heels into the other end, forcing his arms and legs to keep himself up but he gave up and lowered his knees to the mat, letting out a breath as he finally allowed himself a brief respite. _"You're objective today was to try and kill me," _he said, sliding one leg underneath him as he settled himself down into a sitting position on the mat. He placed his feet flat on the mat, drawing his legs up to his chest. _"I knew it."_

Nikita turned her head and looked at him under her arm, seeing Ryan lean back on his heels. She frowned, lowering herself out of the downward dog position and then slowly raised herself to a standing position, making sure to stretch before going to retrieve the water for Ryan on the other side of the room. _"You're in worse shape than I expected," _she said, but was smiling as she sunk down to sit beside him.

"_Right back at you," _he said, smiling at her. _"It wasn't that bad. It got my mind off things for a while."_

"_That's good."_

"_I do rather enjoy this, I have to admit," _he confessed, chancing a glance at her. _"I can see why you do this." _He smiled in defeat and admiration at her, wondering why the others didn't give it a shot. If he came to classes like this every week, he'd probably be stress free more often than not and he'd be able to control the way flow of his thoughts, his emotions, even. Nikita always seemed to be in control of herself, and he wondered if that had to do with yoga or if that was just _her. _If she was naturally a self-controlled person or if yoga had helped to teach her self control.

"_Thank you," _she said, grateful. She reached over and placed her hand over his, smiling as she gave it an affectionate squeeze. _"We can call this outing quits, if you like," _she continued, still holding onto his hand. _"I mean, you look like could use a break. Which is ironic since this isn't all that hard," _she added, smiling wryly.

"_And there it is," _he said, shaking his head at her. _"Another cruel jab at how inferior the rest of us are compared to you," _he teased, smirking at her. _"You're basically superhuman."_

"_Oh, shut up."_

"_No, I don't want to quit, just yet," _he replied, addressing her earlier suggestion to calling it quits. He wasn't one to give up easily, not when he was just learning something. He wanted to stick this through to the end. _"I'll do whatever you want to do next." _Since they were still holding hands, he gripped her hand and and gave it an affectionate squeeze back. She glanced down at their entwined fingers and pressed her lips together, inhaling deeply. _"It's nice spending time with you. Time alone, that is."_

"_We'll stick to doing some simple stretches," _she said, looking back up at him. A smile immediately brightened her features and she thought back to that first year they had met – how he had been one of her first allies outside Division. My, how they had come a long way. _"We're not alone much anymore, are we?" _she observed.

"_We always have chaperones."_

Nikita chuckled, lowering her head to the side. _"Well, we're alone today so we better make the most of it," _she said, looking over at him.

"_I guess we better," _he concurred, gazing back at her. He wished it could be just like old times, lean over and kiss her and repeat history with her. On more than one occasion since returning to her he had found himself wanting to kiss her again, but the fact that she was so madly in love with Michael prevented him from making a move. It prevented him from doing anything, really. He kept everything to himself, caring more about her own happiness and their current friendship than how he felt about her romantically. He'd rather have her in his life as a friend than risk telling her how he felt and scare her away and not have her.


End file.
